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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said it's 'hard to argue' with Pep Guardiola's 'everyone supports Liverpool' jibe but also understands where the Spaniard comes from.
Guardiola caused quite a stir with his comments last week when he said 'the media and everyone' in the country supports the Reds. Now, Tuchel has weighed in on that, saying he shares the same view as his Manchester City counterpart.
At a recent press conference, Tuchel said (via Metro):
"I can understand why he made it. I can understand why he has that feeling. In general, I would say it is hard to really argue with it. I believe I can understand what he meant. There are huge sympathies for Liverpool. I feel that as well, in the whole country.
He continued:
"If you fight against it, like Pep, for many, many years, I can understand the comment that it feels sometimes like this. But at the same time, I don’t think it’s only here. It’s in Germany like this and in France too."
Liverpool are competing for an unprecedented quadruple of trophies this season. They already have the Carabao Cup in the bag and are into the finals of the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League too. They trail City by three points in the Premier League with two games to go.
Klopp has guided the club back to their former glory days since taking charge in 2015. Tuchel has hailed his compatriot as one of the best in the world, calling him the 'master of being the underdog'. He said:
"You know Klopp is the master of being the underdog. He can talk you into being the underdog against Villarreal and against Benfica, and it’s a miracle, miracle how they even draw against them. He can talk you into it, and he does it all the time; he does it a lot of times."
He continued:
"That’s part of it. That’s also like from where the sympathy comes. When he trained Dortmund, the whole country loved Dortmund. So now he trains Liverpool and you have the feeling the whole country loves Liverpool. There’s nothing to be jealous of, from my side; Klopp is a fantastic guy, funny guy, one of the very, very best coaches in the world, and that’s what he does."
Chelsea play Liverpool in the FA Cup final today, May 14. The Reds take on Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final in Paris on May 28.
Chelsea looking to dash Liverpool's quadruple hopes
Chelsea were beaten on penalties by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final earlier this year. They will now look to seek revenge by beating them to the FA Cup trophy, quashing their quadruple hopes.
Emphasising Chelsea's desire to win the trophy over sympathy, Tuchel said:
"It’s big, big, big credit to him, and this is what you deal with when you play a team against him. It’s always like this, but it’s always the fun part, and so if we are the bad guys tomorrow, then no problem. We take that role; we don’t want to have the sympathy of the country tomorrow; we want to have the trophy."
If he wins, it would be the German's first domestic title with Chelsea.
